Yet so far
by R.A.Y.N.E.2008
Summary: Deidara's sent on a mission to capture the 7 tails jinchuuriki with Nina, Itachi's partner. And Nina truly is another Itachi, only female. How will Deidara keep up with the cold woman? Will he stay quiet or...


Hello everyone. This is my first story... ever!! So please be kind enough to read and review. Criticism will be gladly accepted. I know I'm not the best of authors (might even be one of the worst), but I've always wanted to put a story up. So please please guys tell me how I've fared!

BTW Nina is my OC. In my story there's no Kisame (apologies to all fish ;)) and instead she's paired with Itachi. And I've tried to keep the characters as much IN character as I could. I've got a sequel and another prequel in mind for this. But only if I'm encouraged, and that means reviews. :)

DISCLAIMER: Do not own Naruto, though I always pray for a miracle!

* * *

The Jinchuuriki collapsed onto the cold stone floor, dead. The painstakingly long ritual was over, and the sixth Bijuu had finally been extracted.

"Good job everyone." said the leader, relief in his voice. There were just 3 more to go.

Deidara sighed. Hopefully, one of the remaining would be assigned to him. As excited as he was about capturing one however, the thought of having to have Tobi along threw him off. _'Idiotic kid.. why can't I do it alone?'_

"Nina." called the leader. Deidara frowned. There went his chance. He looked up at the silver eyed woman, eyeing her carefully. She remained expressionless.

"I want you to get us the seven tails."

There was no reply. It seemed like the Akatsuki woman was taking her own sweet time to speak. "Hm." she said, a while later. Deidara smirked. She was the only member of the Akatsuki besides Konan who could talk to Pein that way. He even wondered whether the leader actually respected HER, instead of the other way around. He DID praise her abilities countless number of times, and though Deidara didn't know a lot about Pein's own abilities, he was sure Nina was a lot stronger than the rest of the Akatsuki anyway. She had been Raikage at the age of 15 after all.

"However, since Itachi is still recovering from yesterdays mission, I will have Deidara accompany you."

Deidara blinked, first at the leader, and then at Nina. He was surprised to see her gaze turned to him now.

_'Oh man! Me and Nina?'_ Deidara thought, a look of worry in his face.

"What is it Deidara? Do you want to object?"

Deidara immediately turned to face the leader. "No un" he said "Of course not."

"Good. Start off immediately. The rest are dismissed."

Deidara was about to jump off the stone finger when he noticed Itachi glaring at him. _'Huh? What's with him un?'. _He wondered. Itachi gave him one last murderous look before disappearing. The blond man remained transfixed onto the stone, wondering with amusement what in hell the Uchiha wanted.

"Aren't you gonna come down?"

Deidara whirled his head around to see Nina, standing on the ground, hands on both hips.

"Yeah un." he said as he jumped down.

The brunette turned around and started walking, looking unamused. Deidara walked slowly behind her. He felt nervous, for probably the first time in a very long time. He had never spoken a complete sentence to the woman in all their years of acquaintance, and now he had to go through a whole mission with her. This didn't help the fact that he thought she was beautiful in a mysterious kind of way, and that she was the strongest woman he'd ever known, AND that she was Itachi's partner.

"Amegakure has quite a number of shinobi, according to what I've been told." began Nina, taking Deidara by surprise. She slowed her pace so that they were walking side by side. "So we have to proceed carefully. I've devised this new technique for situations in which we'd probably be ambushed. Hope you've brought along a lot of clay."

Deidara regained a little of his confidence. "Yes I have un" he said, patting the bags of clay hung by his pockets. "So, who told you about Amegakure un? The leader?"

"Yes." she said, looking sideways at him. Deidara noticed just how magnificent her eyes were. He had never before seen such an elegant shade of silver. Her eyes were surprisingly peaceful, despite the murderous intent he knew she always carried. She could fool many a people with them.

Nina quickened her steps again, resuming to walk in front of him. Deidara sighed. This was going to be one long journey.

...

Two days into their walk and they still hadn't stopped to take a break. Deidara felt his legs aching, as he was mostly used to flying on his clay bird. He wanted to ask Nina if they could stop and rest countless number of times, but his pride just wouldn't allow it.

They hadn't spoken a word to each other in maybe a day and a half either. This troubled Deidara. He wasn't used to this much silence on a mission. As much as Master Sasori hated him, they would talk about art mostly all the time, even if it was arguing. _'At least it was talking'. _And with Tobi, well, with Tobi, there would be no moment of silence. Deidara's lips twitched at the thought that he actually kind of missed the orange masked idiot.

_'Buddha!', _Deidara thought. _'Enough is enough'._

"Are we there yet?" he asked, sounding bored intentionally.

"Almost, just around half an hour till we enter the Rain Country." replied Nina, not looking back.

"And how far to the village from there?"

At this, Nina turned her head sideways, giving him an irritated glance.

Deidara gulped, mostly out of embarrassment.

"Maybe 3 hours, maybe 4." she replied, before turning back and continuing on her way.

Deidara took in a deep breath. _'Well, that's the most I'll be getting out of her', _he thought, swiftly releasing his breath and strolling behind the quiet woman, immensely bored.

...

_'Damn!'_ Deidara cursed inwardly as he clamped his eyes shut. _'Damn that sun!'_

The blond had been staring at the sun at regular quick intervals, to somehow know how much time had passed. He deduced that it had to be at least 4 hours after his last conversation with Nina, when she had told him that they had a half hour to reach the Rain Country. His eyes stung now, and he was pretty sure he had gone partially blind.

On top of that his legs hurt, so much that at times he had to drag his feet along the ground to keep moving. Never in his life had he undertaken such a long journey on foot with absolutely no stops in between. He supposed it was because of his clay bird; it spoilt him.

He was looking down now, shielding his face from the noon sun. The straw hat didn't help much. His head lowered, he observed his feet. _'The nail polish is wearing off. Damn this whole tradition of the Akatsuki is just plain stupid. I mean, which man in his right senses would wear nail polish? At least mines black and not-'_

Thump!

Deidara winced at his sudden collision. He immediately looked up to see Nina's back. Her head was turned around, facing him. She had a glare that was close to murderous. _'Damn!', _Deidara thought. _'Itachi must be tutoring her'._

He shifted his glance to what was in front of them.

It was a fork on the road.

Nina took a step forward, facing the middle of the 2 roads that diverged in either direction. "I didn't see this coming." she said in a solemn tone.

"Why would a road connecting Amegakure separate out like this un?" said Deidara, walking forward to stand beside Nina. "It doesn't make sense."

Nina closed her eyes and made a combination of seals. Deidara stared; he hadn't seen that combination ever before.

Opening her eyes back again, she frowned. "It isn't a genjutsu. It's the real thing."

Deidara opened his mouth in astonishment. That wasn't the method used to dispel any normal genjutsu. _'Seems Itachi IS tutoring her.'_

"I'll take the left." said Nina, starting to walk towards the left road, leaving Deidara to take the right.

...

A minute into his walk and after making sure Nina was nowhere in sight, Deidara plopped down on the ground. "Aah!" he said out loud, "That feels mighty good!"

He sat down for another few minutes, rubbing his feet to relieve himself from the pain. They had gone a little numb, and Deidara pondered over whether he should take his bird out. He could remain close to the ground to avoid being seen. Anything so that he wouldn't have to walk.

He thought for a while longer however, and decided against it. He remembered Nina's warning about the large number of shinobi they would likely encounter. He didn't want to run out of clay. Deidara smirked; normally he wouldn't think ahead this much. However, this time was different. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Nina again. He was already pretty sure she gave him little more credit than she gave a dying rat. He would prove himself to her, that he wasn't just any other guy. He would show her he was as good as Itachi, probably even better.

Deidara continued his walk, strolling at a slow pace to put his legs at ease. The sun had moved on from the top of his head, thankfully, and he could finally look ahead again.

He stopped when he entered a clearing. _'Alright.' _he thought._ 'Some people just don't know how to make it any less obvious do they!'_

He quickly dug his hands into his bags of clay, only to find that they went right through.

Deidara gasped. He brushed aside his cloak and glanced at his pockets, where his bags should have been.

Except, they weren't there.

"Shit!"

No longer had he said that that around 30 odd jounins jumped down, surrounding him.

_'This is bad!'_ thought Deidara, breathing heavily. Even with his bags of clay it would be next to impossible to take down so many jounins. He did have a strategy in mind for cases of an ambush. But that plan was only for maybe around 5 or 6 shinobi. Not 30! However, without his clay, it was useless.

Deidara eyes widened as the first jounin launched onto him, kunai in hand. Acting solely on impulse, he dodged almost all the attacks, digging in to retrieve his own kunai, thankful to find they were still there.

He soon found himself in the center again, kunai in either hand, staring at the countless shinobi around him._ 'Think Deidara think! What can you do?'_

Another jounin jumped at him. _'Sheesh!'_ Deidara thought, jumping up to dodge the attack.

Swiftly turning his body around in mid air, he almost missed noticing the next one that was coming up from behind him. "Nice try! But too bad!" he shouted, arrogance still standing tall, as he caught the jounins' hand and turned it right back at him, slashing his arm in the process. Deidara smirked at the sight of the blood that splattered from his enemy's arm, but however, was greeted by an even more sinister smile.

"Huh??"

Deidara widened his eyes in surprise, as his arms and legs were swiftly brought together, and his body fell from the air to the ground with an ugly thug.

Face partially in the mud, he looked up to see one of the jounins, chakra strings emanating from his hands. He immediately looked down at himself to see the same strings wrapped around his body.

'Damnit!!'

"Looks like this is the end of the road for you, my friend." said one of them, kneeling down to get a good look at Deidara's face.

Deidara clenched his teeth hard, using all his strength to try and break free.

"Don't try please." said the same man. "Our Mikhi's chakra strings are perhaps the strongest there are. They simply cannot be broken."

Deidara paid no heed to the man's words and instead, continued to try and wriggle out of the strings' grasp.

"Oh, and you must be wondering what happened to your clay bags."

Deidara stopped. He immediately looked up, straight into the shinobi's eyes.

"Ah yes, that was our little doing too.You do remember the little break you took in the middle of the road don't you?"

Deidara's eyes widened in response, recognizing what the man was talking about.

"Our Mikhi halped us there too. His chakra strings slyly took away the bags from your belt," He paused, retrieving Deidara's bags of clay and gently juggling them in his hands, "into my hands."

Deidara glared at the shinobi, anger consuming his face. "You'll regret this, bastard!", he spat.

"Such strong words from man whose about to die. Impressive." said the jounin, as he rose back to his feet. Deidara could do nothing but glare as he took a step back, making way for another shinobi. This man immediately retrieved a sword from his back.

Deidara's look changed from one of anger to horror as the man raised his sword high.

_'This is it! Damn this is it!!' _Shock covered his entire face and his breathing grew heavier than ever as Deidara witnessed the sharp edge of the sword coming down at him.

Just at that very moment, a foot came out of nowhere and made contact with the man's face, sending him high up into the air. The sudden attack took the other shinobi who was controlling the chakra strings by surprise, as he jumped to the side to avoid getting hit too. In the process, he involuntarily cut the strings, and the blond Akatsuki felt the tension give away as he rolled a few meters to the side.

Deidara didn't even have time to think as an arm wrapped around his body and _'poof'._

...

Deidara found himself transported to an area of thick bushes and trees, away from the army of jounin. Horror still written all over his face, he didn't make any attempt to move, and remained fixed to where he was.

"Are you alright??"

Deidara whirled his head around, only to be greeted by the concerned looking face of his partner.

"Nina.."

"You stay here, I'll be back." she said, turning around to leave, when suddenly a hand grabbed her wrist.

Spinning her head around, she looked directly into Deidara's face.

"There are around 30 jounin there un. You can't handle it on your own."

"Well there isn't much you can do to help is there?" she said sarcastically.

Deidara lowered his gaze, releasing his grip on her hand. "My bags of clay were gone un, otherwise-"

"I know." she said, a soft smile creeping into her face. Deidara's eyes widened. He had never seen her smile before, at least not a genuine one. It was always a smirk or something like that.

"Trust me, I've got something up my sleeve." she said, turning around and looking into the distance.

Deidara followed her gaze and stared in shock at his assaulters. They were just a few ten meters away from the clearing.

Nina closed her eyes for a few seconds, and opened them again, her smile vanishing almost instantaneously.

"I can't use my space time jutsu now. And without that if I just walk out, they'll know you're here and will probably send a few of their best shinobi to get you." Deidara stared at her face, not quite comprehending what she had said.

"Deidara" said Nina, turning around to face him. "I need you to get away from here while I make my move."

"Huh?" Deidara looked confused, rewinding and playing back what Nina had said in his head again. "Why un? Why can't you use your space time jutsu?"

"I can't risk it. Now go." she said sternly, and without waiting for any sort of reply, jumped into the clearing, right in between the enemy.

Deidara didn't think, and made a run for it himself. Not looking back, he jumped through the wilderness, and stopped after a moment, turning around.

He was far enough, he thought. Peeping through a few bushes, he could vaguely make out Nina, surrounded by the jounins.

Just as she had predicted, Deidara saw a few of them immediately reach the spot from where she had appeared. They started to look around, searching for her fellow Akatsuki. Deidara didn't move. He feared the rustling of the leaves would alert them.

_'Damn'_ Deidara thought as he eyed the shinobi getting closer to him. There were around 12 of them, more than he'd expected._ 'I should have gotten farther away. Damnit!'_

Deidara stared in surprise as the men immediately retreated, back to the clearing.

The Akatsuki didn't waste any time in crawling forward, trying to hear what was happening.

"This woman here is none other than the rogue ninja from Kumogakure, their former Raikage."

Deidara made out what one of the shinobi was saying to the ones that had retreated. Apparently, he had given them the order when he recognized Nina.

"We will need all our strength to kill her." the man said. There was no fear however on his face, just plain determination.

"What fools!" Deidara said to himelf. "Don't they know praising an enemy is only going to boost his confidence even more?"

"However" the man resumed, looking directly at Nina. "You can never possibly defeat all of us. You're doomed."

Deidara's expression grew solemn. Even he knew she couldn't do away with all of them, at least without some sort of backup. He wondered what strategy she had in mind.

...

Nina smirked. She was right in the center now, just as Deidara had been a few moments ago. The shinobi were circling her, all with kunai in hand, ready for battle.

Nina closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She analyzed her chakra. _'Just about enough, I hope.'_

In the blink of an eye, she made a huge combination of seals; and just as quickly, raised her right arm high up in the air, fingers stretched out.

The jounins stared in awe as sparks of electricity emanated from her fingers.

"Lightning element. LIGHTNING STORM!!"

Before they could even react, every single shinobi in the clearing were shocked with probably the strongest lightning attack they had ever experienced.

Deidara stared in utmost shock as screams of pain radiated from the clearing. He shielded his eyes, blinded by the enormous bolts of lightning that filled the area.

...

It took another moment for the screams to cease echoing in Deidara's ears. He slowly opened his eyes, only to be bewildered by what he saw.

There in the middle stood Nina, hand still raised up. Every other jounin was down on the ground, smoke rising up from their bodies, and the etching sound of fading electricity.

"Are they all.. dead??" he thought aloud.

Just then, he watched as his partner collapsed down on the ground.

"Nina!" he shouted, rushing to her side.

"Nina!" he called again, furiously shaking her body, dreaded thoughts entering his head.

"No.."

Deidara turned her around so that she was face up, and leaned his head down, bringing his ear close to her chest. He couldn't make out any sound. Immediately, he brought his index finger to her nose, hoping for any sign that she was still breathing.

Deidara let out a sigh of relief as warm air grazed his finger. _'She's alive. Thank God.' _He noticed, however, that her breathing was highly irregular.

"I have to get her some medical attention un, and fast.", he thought out loud.

Looking up, Deidara analyzed the situation. If he brought her back to the base, Hidan and Konan could be able to help out with something. But he figured even they would have a tough time with her, as they weren't actually trained in medical ninjutsu. Also, even if she did turn up allright, Nina would probably murder him if she found out they couldn't complete the mission because he 'went soft'.

Bringing his gaze down in the direction of Amegakure, he made up his mind. He would take her to the hospital there, that was his only choice.

Deidara wasted no time in removing his cloak. He had to do everything possible to cover up their identities. After all their recent attacks in almost every village, he was sure they would be recognized everywhere.

He then untied his pony, and brought all of his blond hair, including the long bangs that usually covered his left eye, back down and tied it there._ 'I probably look like Itachi now.' _he thought, smirking. He proceeded to remove his scope and thrust it into his pocket.

Feeling that he'd done enough to make himself not recognizable, Deidara looked down at his partner. _'What do I do with her now?'_

Kneeling down, he slowly started to remove her cloak too. Tossing it aside, he then undid her hair. Nina's famous braids would be known all over the world, he thought.

Running his hands through her hair and gathering it up to tie a high pony, he marveled at its softness_. 'You're so.. soft, and pure, and so innocent like..'. _His mind wandered, eyes hypnotized on her face._ 'How then, how did you end up here?' _

Nobody knew the story behind Nina's past. The only thing they did know was that she was from Kumogakure and was the Raikage at 15. Deidara remembered being amazed the first time he had heard that from the Kakuzu. _Raikage at 15, and a girl_?, he had thought. It just wasn't normal. She was a prodigy, just like her partner.

Deidara's lips twitched at the thought of Itachi. He always believed Nina would have turned out much better if she weren't partnered with him. She was cold now, just like him, cold and arrogant. He hated that, he hated Itachi, and all this time he had thought he hated Nina too. But not now. Staring at her unconscious yet peaceful face, he couldn't bring himself to hate her.

Deidara winced at the sound of a branch falling behind him. He swerved back, retreating his kunai and throwing it right at the spot where the branch had fallen, all in a fraction of a second. A squirrel swiftly ran out of the bushes, away into the woods._ 'Uh, blasted animal!'_

The encounter disrupting his thoughts, Deidara took one last look at the fallen woman in front of him. She didn't look like the Nina everyone knew, and hopefully they wouldn't be recognized in the village. He then continued to bury their cloaks underground, lest someone should find them.

Kneeling down, Deidara gently scooped up Nina in his arms, careful not to be too rough. He had never handled cradling an unconscious woman, or anyone for that matter, in his arms before, and thus tried to shift her this way and that in whatever way seemed most comfortable to her.

Making sure he had her held the right way, Deidara wondered at how lightweight Nina was, despite her strength. It felt like carrying a feather. A small smile creeped into his face. Sighing, he started the slow walk to the village.

...

Deidara stopped, seeing the gate to Amegakure in the distance.

"Finally un. Hopefully my excuse works."

...

"Stop right there sir. State your purpose."

Deidara turned to the side, eying the gatekeeper ninja who had addressed him.

"Me and my friend here un" he said, giving a quick glance to the woman in his arms, "We are ninja from Iwagakure. We were coming to just see the place un, like a vacation sort of. Someplace behind we were ambushed by these goons un, there were a lot of them." Deidara paused, urging a look of sorrow in his eyes and disappointment in his voice. "They wanted our money. We tried to defend ourselves un. Thankfully they weren't that strong. But a few of them got away with all our stuff and money, and my friend here, she's in a bad state." Deidara paused again, looking down, biting his lower lip. Looking up again, he tried his best to get his eyes to moisten. "Please," he said, voice breaking, confident the tears were beginning to appear. "Please let me take her to the hospital. I can't lose her. Please."

The ninja eyed him carefully. Deidara prayed for him to believe his story.

"Fine," the man said in a low tone. "You seem truthful enough. But tell me,"

Deidara narrowed his eyes. He could just kill the man right then. But he couldn't, and he hated it.

"Why is your forehead protector scratched?"

"Huh?" Deidara thought fast. "Well, they were launching at us with kunai and shuriken un. One of them got to my forhead protector I guess. I never noticed."

The ninja continued to eye him, looking highly suspicious.

Deidara was glad his eyes hadn't dried up. "Please" he screamed, clenching his teeth. A tear finally fell down his cheek. "Please let us through. She's going to die!"

The gatekeeper spread out his palms in front of his chest in defense. "Fine fine. You may pass."

Deidara smiled, gently. "Thank you." he said quietly, bowing a little.

...

"This village is big un." Deidara thought out aloud, staring at the vast expanse of pipes and buildings that seemed to arise like a maze in front of him. "Which one of these is the damned hospital?"

"Uh excuse me young man," Deidara spun around to face an old lady, head bent, aching to look at him.

"What?" he said, sounding impatient.

"I couldn't help hearing you. You want to take that friend of yours to the hospital eh?" she asked in a kind voice, pointing to Nina.

"Yes." said Deidara, excitement rising up in his voice. "Do you know the way un?"

"Sure. Just go straight, turn left and walk straight again for about 10 minutes. It'll be on your left. You can't miss it."

Deidara's eyes followed the woman's hands, pointing in the direction he had to go.

Without wasting any time, he hurried down the road, leaving the poor old woman behind without even a word of thanks.

"Kids these days." she said, in a sad tone, gazing after the blond man. "When they have their girlfriends around they just forget about everyone else."

...

Deidara continued his walk down the narrow lane, staring in awe at his surroundings. _'Such a wierd place un.' _he thought._ 'Figures though. Leader's from here, and he's wierd.'_

Strolling at a calm pace, he looked down at his partner again. Her head was hanging over his left arm, so he couldn't quite see her face. He continued staring, for no particular reason, when suddenly he felt a drops of water.

Deidara raised his head up, only to have himself blinded by the sudden outpour of rain.

_'Ugh. Blasted rain!'_ he cursed inwardly, shutting his eyes for a while for the water to go. He felt himself get drenched slowly, head first.

Opening a single eye, the other still filled with water, he saw Nina's head again, hanging over his arm. _'Damn' _he thought. _'The water will get into her nose un!'_

He quickly shifted his left arm from her upper back to under her head, bringing her face close to his chest.

The feel of her head against him suddenly sent a shiver through the Akatsuki, fixing him to the spot. His jaws separated out a little, a look of confusion spread over his face._ 'What in hell was that?'_

The rain suddenly intensified, and Deidara wasted no time in bringing his partner to the hospital.

...

"What in hell happened to her? Her chakra's completely depleted." The medical ninja said, panic evident in her voice.

"How many times should I tell you people un?" Deidara was getting highly impatient. "I told that other woman already, we were attacked by thugs!"

The nurse gifted him no glance, and instead continued to study the unconscious woman on the hospital bed.

"You're lucky she's still alive. Had she exerted herself even a little more, she would have died."

Deidara narrowed his eyes, frustrated at the entire situation. "I get it un!" He started to raise his voice. "Now heal her already!"

The medical nin, ignoring him again, brought her hands above Nina's chest, palm down. Closing her eyes, she slowly started to run chakra into her body, concentrating intently.

Deidara slipped back into the chair beside the bed, a look of worry on his face. He rested his head in both hands, a headache taking over. _'Damn it Nina.' _Deidara looked through his fingers, eyeing his partner on the bed._ 'Damn it, please be okay.' _Deidara resumed to look down, mind wandering.

_'What's this I'm feeling un?' _he thought._ 'She's just another damned Akatsuki. Just like Hidan, Kakuzu, Itachi, Zetsu and all the other bastards. I don't give a damn about them. Then why?' _Deidara shut his eyes. His head was throbbing._ 'Why do I care if she dies or not? Why am I doing all this shit for her?'_

"She'll be fine by tomorrow." said the ninja,interrupting his thoughts. Deidara looked up.

"There's nothing left for me to do. All she needs now is some rest. After that, she'll be as good as new."

Deidara stood up from his chair, proceeding to stand next to the bed.

"Are you sure un?" he asked, looking down at Nina's still unconscious face.

"Yes of course. I guarantee-"

"Kimishi-san!!"

Both Deidara and the medical nin whirled around to look at the young woman that had come running into the room.

"Hayake. What is it?"

The woman looked at Deidara, and then back at Kimishi. She had horror written all over har face, and was panting hard.

"Come with me" said Kimishi, leading the woman out of the room.

Deidara stared behind the two women leaving the room. He had a very bad feeling in his gut.

He immediately created a shadow clone and sent it out to listen to the womens' conversation.

...

Deidara's clone had his back at the wall, besides the door of the room in which the two women were. They were talking in panicked tones.

"What do you mean they're all dead??"

That was the medical nin's voice.

"All of them Kimishi-san! They got all of them!" said the other woman. She was choking on her voice, almost like she was going to cry.

"But that was all we had! We have no more jounin!"

The clone leaned in more to hear better into what they were saying. This was getting interesting.

"I know Kimishi-san! We are totally defenseless now, spare a few of us medical nin and even lesser chuunin!"

"Oh good Lord."

"But Kimishi-san. The two that attacked them were nowhere to be found. And they still haven't attacked the village."

"They're the Akatsuki!" The fear was rising in the woman's voice. "Of course they're not going to leave unless they capture Ninkai!"

The clone guessed this Ninkai was the seven tails Jinchuuriki. A small smile crept into his face, happy at the information he was getting.

"Wait Hayake. They were two of them right?"

The clone's expression suddenly dimmed, brows lowering.

"Yes Kimishi-san. Why?"

"There's no way they could have killed all our jounin and escaped unhurt."

_'Uh-oh.' _

_Poof._

The clone disappeared.

...

Kimishi barged into the room where her two suspects were.

"No.." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"Kimishi-san. What?" Hayake caught up with her senior, looking over her shoulder into the room. She gave out a cry.

"They're gone!"

...

Deidara slowly laid down Nina on the grass in a sitting position, her back to the bark of a tree. She was still unconscious. She had stirred now and then, but he doubted she would wake up any time soon.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he sat down beside her. He had escaped in the nick of time. The gate keeper had seemed quite surprised to see him hurry out with Nina still unwell. But he had moved fast enough for him to have been able to have done nothing but watch.

Deidara arched his head up, watching the leaves gently sway in the breeze. He smirked._ 'Heh, those fools have no one left un. And tomorrow after Nina is up and awake, we have the perfect opportunity to launch our final attack. They may try to prepare, but I doubt there's anything much one can do with just a few medical nin and chuunin.'_

He slowly closed his eyes, the smirk still not off his face._ 'I'm sorry Ninkai-chan. But your time is up un.'_

Deidara proceeded to turn his head around, observing his surroundings. He was pretty sure they wouldn't be found. He had moved away far enough. And he figured the village would probably try to strengthen their defenses rather than send out the last of their ninja to find them.

_'But then,'_ Deidara frowned. _'They do know Nina will be in no condition to fight till tomorrow. And I still have no clay. So they have an advantage.'_

The frown soon disappeared his face however. He was an Akatsuki! He could handle a few chuunin.

Bringing his hands upto his head, he gently massaged his temple. The headache still hadn't receded. He leaned his head back onto the tree bark. Eying his still unconcious teammate, Deidara was sure enough that she wouldn't wake up anytime soon. He needed to rest. To get away from the damned headache, and most of all, from all the feelings that were rushing back to him again. Closing his eyes, shutting Nina's image from his mind, the blond man quickly drifted off to sleep.

...

"Deidara, hey Deidara."

Deidara stirred, letting out a low groan, falling back asleep again.

"Deidara". The voice grew impatient.

Deidara shifted again. "What?" he asked, semi consciously, turning around ever so slowly to see who was bothering him.

It took him a while to register the irritated face of Nina in his head, but when it did, he suddenly regained full consciousness.

"Nina, you're awake un." he said, voice still coarse and low.

"What happened?" she asked. Deidara let out a sigh, running his fingers down his bangs, brushing them away from his face. The question seemed so simple, yet he had such a long story to tell.

"Well," Deidara took in a deep breath.

...

Deidara let out his breath finally. "So that's basically it un."

Nina was frowning. It was still dark, probably a little past midnight. Deidara could hardly see the woman's face, but it was a full moon that night, and he was able to see enough with it's light.

"Alright." she said, in a low tone. Closing her eyes, Nina rested her head back, taking in slow breaths.

"Hey, tell me un," Deidara didn't want her to fall asleep again. He didn't want to stop talking. But before he could figure out just why he wanted that, he had begun to speak. "What was that new technique? You knew it could have killed you right?"

Nina opened her eyes, lowering her head now, staring at a particular patch of grass on the ground.

"I was lucky."

Deidara narrowed his eyes."What?" For a reason he couldn't understand, he began to raise his voice, anger slowly consuming his voice. "So you did know un. You willingly tried to kill yourself there. What in hell were you thinking?"

Nina shot the man a hateful glance. Deidara didn't gulp this time; he was still angry.

"If you must know Deidara," she said, monotonously. "That was my only option. The other would have been to run away and let you die by their hands."

Deidara's expression softened a little. Did she actually care?

"I may be an Akatsuki," Deidara listened intently. "But I do respect my comrades, respect them enough to save their pathetic lives when I have to."

Deidara bit his lip, shocked at the way she had literally spat her last sentence.

"What do you mean pathetic huh?" The blond was literally fuming now. There was a limit to which he could submit to a woman and he had gone past it. Nina's gaze grew more vengeful, but he simply ignored it and continued.

"I don't care how bloody powerful you may be, but I damned know I'm not pathetic." Deidara was standing now, hunching down a little to address the brunette with a mighty stand. He could have sworn he saw a slight look of surprise on her face, probably at his outburst, but it had been so faint he couldn't have been sure.

"You may have been a fucking Raikage when you were young," His voice grew so much in intensity that he was almost shouting. Even the normal nasal 'un' that accompanied most of his sentences had disappeared. "But I could have been too! I just left my fucking village. And it's not that I would have bothered to anyways."

"Deidara," Nina said in a low but spiteful tone. She was up on one knee.

"Fucking quit with the addressing already! You and that bloody Uchiha are one of a kind. Bloody fucking bastards! What do you know? No matter how much you think you're better than everyone else, I swear, one day, one day if not by my hands then by someone else you two will go down! And yeah, I'll be right there laughing!"

"Deidara," Nina was standing now, eyes narrowed, tone still monotonously low.

Deidara stopped. He closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath.

"Are you done already? If not, shut the hell up."

Deidara stiffened. That was it. He clenched his teeth, anger tiding over every cell of his body.

"Bloody bitch!"

No sooner had he said that did Deidara's hand swiftly come down, targeted at Nina's cheek.

But it was stopped just as fast.

Deidara watched with spiteful eyes as Nina clutched his wrist tightly, just inches away from her face.

"What-do-you-know-about-my-life!" Nina said with clenched teeth, uttering each word with fierceful intensity.

Deidara's expression did not change. However, he kept quiet, waiting for her to continue on.

"I'm not like you, or any of you other bastards..."

Sweat dropped from Deidara's forehead. Nina's tone was frighteningly low and deadly.

"You," She tightened the grip on his wrist. "You came here because of your lust for killing. You came here because you wanted to. You came here because you never had any regard for anyone around you."

Deidara tried his best to remain calm. He was scared.

"I'm different from you."

Nina's eyes narrowed so much he could barely see the silver glint.

"I loved everyone. I cared for every single person in my village." Nina paused, closing her eyes for a moment, as if recalling her memories.

"I loved them more than I loved myself."

Suddenly, Nina threw Deidara's hand aside swiftly and with amazing force, so much that he was thrown to the side himself.

Deidara spun his head around, fearing what she would do next.

But she was gone.

...

Deidara helped himself up from the ground with a grunt._ 'Damn she's strong when she's angry un.'_

Dusting his clothes off, he looked around, hoping to catch sight of his partner. She was, however, nowhere around.

_'Where could she have gone?'_

Deidara sighed, deciding it was best to not go looking for her. He slowly sat down back again, with his back to the tree.

Leaning his head back, he thought._ 'Why did I have to fight with her? Damnit.'_

He extended his right palm in front of him, and stared at it, pondering again.

_'I tried to slap her un. Why in hell did I try to slap her?'_

Laying his hand back down, the blond dug his fingers into the mud, venting off his frustration.

_'She's gonna hate me now.'_

Deidara reached out to rub his temple once again, irritated at the fact that his headache had returned. Deciding that he needed some rest rather than work up his mind again, the Akatsuki closed his eyes, leading away to sleep.

...

Deidara's eyes twitched at the light radiating directly at them. It was dawn.

Awakening slowly, he was caught off guard by the weight he felt on his right shoulder.

Whirling his head around, Deidara let out a gasp as he saw none other than Nina, calmly sleeping on his shoulder.

Disturbed by the sudden movement, Nina's eyes slowly fluttered open, lips curling to form an irritated frown.

Catching sight of her partner, her expression grew solemn again. Not addressing his glance, she was swiftly up on her feet, and staring ahead in the direction of Amegakure.

"I will not let a stupid squabble stand in the way of my mission."

Deidara stared, amused at the fact that she had literally answered his question when he hadn't even asked her.

Gifting him no backward glance, Nina continued.

"We have wasted enough time. Now come."

Deidara did as he was told. Pressing his hand on the ground and pushing himself up to his feet, the blond tied his hair back to how it always was with amazing speed. He saw that Nina had already braided her hair. Appearing unmindful, he proceeded to dig up their cloaks.

"Here" he said, offering his partner her cloak, already having worn his.

Quickly wearing her cloak, Nina started to walk towards the village, with Deidara at her heels. Neither of the two spoke a word to each other afterwards.

...

Deidara didn't know whether to be happy or sad. He had the Jinchuuriki's arm flung over his shoulder, the weight of her unconscious body pummeling onto him.

Yes, their mission was a success after all. Amegakure had indeed been deprived of their last jounin, and the medical nin and chuunin had proved little, if not no resistance at all. Deidara had been surprised at how weak the Jinchuuriki Ninakai was. He concluded that the village probably didn't let her train, fearing it would relese the bijuu's power somehow. It had been one of the easiest fights he'd ever fought. Even without his clay, he had barely broken a sweat.

_'But...'_

Deidara looked ahead at Nina, who was, as usual, walking ahead of him.

She still hadn't been kind enough to offer him a sideways glance till then. And their mission was over. It was going to be like the old times again. Hell, he would probably never get to speak to her again. The very thought disturbed Deidara. He felt an ache deep in his chest; he still wasn't sure of what he was feeling for her, and now, he would never find out.

...

"Well done you two."

The leader sounded pleased. Deidara looked up, laying the Jinchuuriki on the floor at the center of the cave. He was surprised he hadn't questioned their delay.

Meanwhile, Nina ran her eyes over her surroundings, as if trying to search for something. Pupils resting back on the leader, she frowned.

"Where's Itachi?"

Deidara's eyes widened. How did she know he wasn't in the hideout? They were in the sealing chamber, and the rest of the hideout spread for a few miles in either direction.

"Itachi healed immediately after you left for your mission with Deidara. We couldn't waste any time. He went out for his Jinchuuriki early today morning."

Deidara watched as Nina narrowed her eyes.

"I'm going."

Nina spun around, her cloak gracefully swirling about in mid air, and hastily strode in the direction of the entrance.

Deidara could do nothing as she walked past him, unmindful of his very existence. His heart seemed to almost stop beating right then, but it wasn't because he was attracted to her. Yes, he had figured that out by then. It was accompanied by a dread in the pit of his stomach, almost as if he would never see her again.

The boulder creaked and water spilled around as the entrance came down, engulfing the cave in darkness again.

She was gone.

* * *

AN: So how was it?? I know being Kage at 15 isn't great cus Gaara did it and Deidara beat him. But I just needed to portray her as strong, and I thought being Kage at a younger age would be just plain unbelievable.

Please review :)


End file.
